An uninvited guest

[Tiara]

Hey all! I just want to introduce my new, sweet kitty, called Lizzy.
A little bit of the back story. We live in a house with yard. We have female cat, who is 7 years old. She is very territorial and also very anxious and is afraid of other cats (probably because she has never been around cats, because we found her as new born, all alone).
Anyways for these 7 years not a single cat has stayed longer than 1-2 min in our yard, because Matty is chasing them. Until 1 day we heared some hisses outside and saw a young cat, who ran away. The next day the same-she came again only to be chased around by my other cat. This continued like a week or so.
Until one night I woke up during the night and saw this sweet kitty sleeping in our bed (the balcony is open during the night) She started to purrr right away when she saw me. Not sure how she went pass Matty to get to the bedroom. From this day on, we decided to keep her, because we are sure she has picked us. She is soooo adorable and sweet. Also very bold, the opposite of our cat. This happened 10 days or so, so both cats are still adjusting. Our old cat started to tolerate her, but oh, boy, how she hates when they get close to each other Sorry for the long post, but I think this does not happen every day.

 

[Archerfish]

That's a beautiful story! How kind of you to provide that kitty with a loving home. She is a very pretty cat. Yep, they have a way of 'adopting' good people. Thanks for sharing!

 

[Tiara]

Thank you for the kind words! And yes, I adore animals of any kind.

 

[Back in the fold]

Cats do pick out the people they like . My cat did that . He was a stray that showed up one day and wouldn’t leave . He’s here for good now .

 

[Tiara]

My only concern is that my other cat does not accept her fully. I hope one day this will change. I'm also afraid that she isn't feeling good. She is non-stop on high alert around the house and is even more anxious than before. When they cross paths she hisses and sometimes she chases Lizzy away. I hope with time they both will feel save and peaceful.

 

[Fishmanic]

What a nice cat you adopted. That kitty and the back story would make a great entry for our Pet of the Month contest which starts in mid November.

 

[Naughts]

My only concern is that my other cat does not accept her fully. I hope one day this will change. I'm also afraid that she isn't feeling good. She is non-stop on high alert around the house and is even more anxious than before. When they cross paths she hisses and sometimes she chases Lizzy away. I hope with time they both will feel save and peaceful.

I've only ever kept multiple cats if they are siblings. Some non-related cats can get on but it is hit and miss. Their ancestors were largely solitary. Your first cat seems to want to be solitary, you mentioned she is territorial, anxious and afraid. Can you try and find the original owner of your new cat?

 

[Tiara]

What a nice cat you adopted. That kitty and the back story would make a great entry for our Pet of the Month contest which starts in mid November.

Hah, thank you for the idea, I may enter indeed the contest She is such a sweetheart!

 

[Tiara]

I've only ever kept multiple cats if they are siblings. Some non-related cats can get on but it is hit and miss. Their ancestors were largely solitary. Your first cat seems to want to be solitary, you mentioned she is territorial, anxious and afraid. Can you try and find the original owner of your new cat?

Hey! I doubt she is someone's. Here in my country there are a LOT of stray cats and dogs, cause stupid people throw their pregnant pets on the street or don't sterilize them if they go outisde... Also no one has searched for her in my neighbourhood If someone is searching for her I will return her to the original owner, but I highly doubt this is the case.

 

[Colin_T]

Cats are highly territorial and don't like other cats coming into their territory. Your original cat might settle down after time but it's probably never going to be 100% happy with an intruder. Having two cats in the same place is less of an issue if they are siblings and or have been kept together since they were kittens. Mixing two adults is always risky. To reduce the stress on your original cat, you need to spend more time with it and give it lots of pats so it realises it's still higher ranking than the newcomer.

The fact the new cat persisted in hanging around your house and came inside would suggest it's an ex pet that was abandoned. Feral cats don't go into people's houses and cuddle up to humans.

 

[MaloK]

Cats are pretty brazen curious beasts, I often found some I didn't knew venturing my house... But waking up to one sleeping besides you is something I never heard of.

I had multiple cats all my life, a lot at the time, but supervised interaction, positive reinforcement, reward good behaviors and avoid punishment. Slow and steady, preventing aggression, not pushing anything, this can take weeks. I admit that it is a lot easier when you already have more than one cat when you introduce a new one.

Two cats used to be solitary will certainly have some frictions in the first weeks. If you have an escalation of terror isolate the cats one from another when you are not present and use the good old water spray to end every tendency to fight when you are present.

There is a product called Feliway, it's pretty expensive, but it emulates the natural pheromones released by a mother cat, This stuff did very good when things got difficult.

But I had up to 20 and more... Some where never leaving the house, some where in and out, other where there in the winter and some never really got in.

At some point you make sure the litter is clean, all have food... And let them all have their different opinions. loll.

 

[Tiara]

Cats are highly territorial and don't like other cats coming into their territory. Your original cat might settle down after time but it's probably never going to be 100% happy with an intruder. Having two cats in the same place is less of an issue if they are siblings and or have been kept together since they were kittens. Mixing two adults is always risky. To reduce the stress on your original cat, you need to spend more time with it and give it lots of pats so it realises it's still higher ranking than the newcomer.

The fact the new cat persisted in hanging around your house and came inside would suggest it's an ex pet that was abandoned. Feral cats don't go into people's houses and cuddle up to humans.

Ye, she is abandoned, probably, which is very sad
I give my cat a lot of attention and hugs, but she is still not as calm as I wish. For now, when they both are lying down, there is no problem at all. Even when they are in one room. They don't bother each other. The problem starts when the little one starts to walk or try to go near my cat.
Today I'm going to the vet to ask for some meds for relaxation or advice.
Good thing is that at least they don't fight, only hiss. I will give them more time for now.

 

[Tiara]

Cats are pretty brazen curious beasts, I often found some I didn't knew venturing my house... But waking up to one sleeping besides you is something I never heard of.

I had multiple cats all my life, a lot at the time, but supervised interaction, positive reinforcement, reward good behaviors and avoid punishment. Slow and steady, preventing aggression, not pushing anything, this can take weeks. I admit that it is a lot easier when you already have more than one cat when you introduce a new one.

Two cats used to be solitary will certainly have some frictions in the first weeks. If you have an escalation of terror isolate the cats one from another when you are not present and use the good old water spray to end every tendency to fight when you are present.

There is a product called Feliway, it's pretty expensive, but it emulates the natural pheromones released by a mother cat, This stuff did very good when things got difficult.

But I had up to 20 and more... Some where never leaving the house, some where in and out, other where there in the winter and some never really got in.

At some point you make sure the litter is clean, all have food... And let them all have their different opinions. loll.

Thank you for the advice! For now they are supervised, we don't leave them alone during the day. When we are not at home I take the little one out in the yard (there is a chair where she sleeps). I am concern what to do when it's starts to be cold outside, in the winter. I hope by then they will be calmer.
As I mentioned, they don't fight, but my old cat shows who is the boss when they go close to each other. The little one tried to 'hunt' her playfully few times, but my cat does not buy it.
I will go to the vet to buy the product and cross fingers for it to work.
I really, really hope to have them both, the little one got under our skin so damn fast.

 

[Tiara]

A little update on the situation.
We bought the product to calm them down, I really hope that it will work for them.
Also the vet came home to vaccinate her Now she has a passport.
For those who are interested, I will keep you updated on how things are progressing.

 

[Tiara]

Hello again.
We make little steps towards harmony.
My older cat is much more relaxed now, probably with the help of the pheromones.
This is the first time they got so close to each other without any drama